Fallen
by MarshmellowsAreBunniesArses
Summary: Did she know she would end up in Camelot? No. She was aiming for the Revolutionary War, but for now, she'll just have to make do.


_Fallen _

The bushes to their right rustled slightly, making Merlin tense and Arthur pull back his crossbow. The movement stopped and the air around them seemed to still for a moment, before a girl, dirtied and bloodied appeared before them.

Merlin wasn't sure what exactly happened next, he supposed that the girl had startled Arthur enough to accidentally let go of the arrow. He watched in horror as it made its way to the girl. His eyes flashed gold, but his attempt was in vain. The arrow had already lodged itself into her thigh.

She yelped in pain before biting her lip. Her teeth pulled back and Merlin saw blood. A few tears escaped her eyes and trailed down her cheeks, cleansing them a bit. Arthur dropped the crossbow, before kneeling down beside her.

"It'll be alright," he said to her. "We're going to have to pull out the arrow, okay?" She nodded slowly, her eyes fearful. He turned to his servant. "Merlin, I'll need a cloth, something to stop the blood from flowing."

Not knowing what else to do, he quickly untied his neckerchief before handing it to Arthur. "On the count of three." His hand wrapped around the arrow. "Merlin, go get water. One, two, three!" He used the water pouch to clean the wound before wrapping the neckerchief around her leg tightly. Arthur looked up into her eyes. "That's the best we can do before we can take you to the Court Physician, I'm Arthur and that's Merlin."

"Ophelia." She rasped out.

"Ophelia," Arthur smiled, trying to make her comfortable. It was obvious she was terrified. "Is there anyone else with you?" She shook her head. "Do you have anything else?"

"The bushes." The prince looked at Merlin pointedly. In a few minutes he returned with a bag and two oddly wooden shaped objects in hand. She smiled gratefully. Arthur loaded her onto a horse, having Merlin slowly lead it out of the forest. He jumped onto his own before quickly trotting to catch up.

"What brings you to Camelot?" He asked upon noticing the pained look on her face.

"There is . . .war waging in my country, my father was worried that if we remained, we would fall victim to the army. He moved us here to start a better life, we were entertainers, so we moved around a lot, but we were attacked one night and now I can't . . ."

"So, what's that for," he indicated toward what Merlin was holding, trying to change the subject.

"It's my instrument."

"Truly? It's a treat whenever we have a musician in Camelot. The last time we had one was about two years ago."

They fell silent, both of them having run out of things to say. Camelot's magnificent castle broke into view and a gasp escaped her.

"It is rather beautiful, is it not?" Arthur said with a note of pride in his voice. He turned around to find Merlin supporting the girl with his back, his hands occupied. He quickly jumped off his horse and went to assist him. "Go get a knight," he ordered, the girl limp in his arms. "Then go inform Gaius." Merlin nodded and sped towards the castle.

'

'

Sir Leon and Arthur placed the girl on the cot in Gaius' chambers. Leon looked at the girl in pity once more before bidding them farewell. Arthur eyed her pale face ans looked to Gaius. "Will she be alright?"

"I cannot say as of yet," he said adjusting his glasses. "I still need to inspect the wound."

Arthur nodded.

"And since it pierced her thigh, I'm going to need the both of you to leave. I do not know the girl, but she would most likely not want you two to be here."

Arthur reddened slightly, but muttered something along the lines of, "She didn't mind in the forest . ." before exiting, Merlin on his heels.

Gaius shook his head before slowly peeling away the brown material of her dress from her thigh. An odd sight met him, a dagger was attached to her good leg. He unstrapped it and placed it on the floor beside him. He wrang out a rag and began to clean the wound.

In all honesty, he was rather surprised the girl was even alive, he would have thought her dead for the sheer amount of blood, had it not been for the slight rising of her chest. Once satisfied that he had cleaned to the best of his ability, he applied a paste before wrapping a different cloth to her leg.

He had done everything he could, the rest was up to the girl. But he had faith in her, she seemed to be a fighter, if her steady pulse was anything to go by.

"Merlin! Sire!" He called. Merlin walked in alone. "Arthur's gone to speak with his father."

"What for?"

"He feels guilty for causing this and she mentioned something about not having anywhere to go. He's trying to get her employment in the castle."

"She spoke to you?" Gaius asked surprised.

"Yeah, said her name was Ophelia. Real tragic story from what I understood. From a different country, that would explain the accent. Why?"

"Just astonished is all." Merlin turned to the girl. "Will she be alright?"

"It depends on her will to live."

"What do you think?"

"I have full confidence in her. Now, what she needs is rest." Gaius eyed Merlin and he groaned as comprehension dawned on his face.

"My chambers." He sighed before lifting her and placing her on his bed. He bounded down the stairs and brought up her stuff. Carefully placing them on the small table beside her, he eyed the small weapon.

Merlin wondered what had happened to her to drive her to carry something like that around with her.

Gaius' voice carried up the stairs, calling him down for supper. He glanced down at the girl, noticing how peaceful she looked before exiting.

**A/N: Not bad for my first BBC Merlin fanfiction, if I do say so myself. I hope you guys enjoyed this, and if you did, please review. And even if you didn't like it, please review so I can improve my writing. For anyone that was wondering, this takes place before the last episode of season 2. Toodloo, **

**MarshmellowsAreBunniesArses**


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